Canada Governor General steps down over 'workplace harassment' allegations

Canada’s governor-general resigned on January 21, following reports of workplace harassment allegations. “Everyone has a right to a healthy and safe work environment,” Julie Payette said in a statement amid tensions at Rideau Hall as she stepped down from the position. Payette’s assistant, Assunta Di Lorenzo, accused of harassing employees, will also turn in resignation, according to sources of the Canadian press. Payette, Canada’s embattled governor-general who is also the representative of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, apologized for several months of chaos as complaints about the "toxic" workplace environment poured in.

Meanwhile, the Secretary to the Governor-General hired Marie Henein's firm Henein Hutchison LLP to represent her. Henein was hired by Canada’s ex-Vice Admiral Mark Norman, the military's former second-in-command. According to Canada’s broadcaster The Globe and Mail, an independent consulting firm finished a complete review into the matter and alleged that there were negative findings in the report that will make it hard for Payette to retain her role. The report was “damning” in its conclusions, the firm stated, and it could put Payette’s job in jeopardy.

The probe was led by the head of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Dominic LeBlanc, whose father was an ex-governor general of Canada. LeBlanc will offer Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advice on how to move forward with the case. The result of the probe has been submitted by LeBlanc to the Privy Council Officer, the bureaucratic wing of Canada’s Prime Minister’s Office. By rule of law, a controversial governor-general is asked by the PM to resign in Canada, who, upon refusal, could turn to the Queen to appoint a replacement. 

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“No formal complaints or official grievances were made during my tenure,” Payette said in a statement released by the Office of the Secretary to the Governor-General. “ I still take these allegations very seriously,” the former alleged.

A 'scathing' negative report

With no details out yet, the Canadian press has called the findings “scathing”, and one that tarnishes Payette’s reputation and paints a negative picture of the work environment at Rideau Hall. A government source, with access to the report, called the Rideau Hall ‘a house of horrors’ in the Canadian press. The former astronaut, Payette, who was appointed by PM Trudeau in 2017 asked the head of the administration to appoint a new governor-general. 

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